Race

Imani Perry speaks at the Brooklyn Tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, in New York, on Jan. 17.

Books
Arts

Want to understand the U.S.? This historian says the South holds the key

5:49pm January 25, 2022

by Dave Davies

Imani Perry says the South can be seen as an "origin point" for the way the nation operates. Her book South to America reflects on the region's history and traces the steps of an enslaved ancestor.

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Rep. Terri Sewell, a Democrat from Alabama, represents the state's only Black-majority district in Congress. She's pictured here alongside Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio, and Martin Luther King III, in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 17, 2022.

Federal court says Alabama's congressional map disadvantages Black voters

5:43pm January 25, 2022

by Cody Short

Blocking the new congressional map from taking effect, a panel of judges says Alabama needs at least two, not one, congressional districts in which Black voters are the majority, or close to it.

After 10 days in office, Virginia Gov. Youngkin is facing blowback over new policies

5:23pm January 25, 2022

by Ben Paviour

Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin's administration is pushing a conservative agenda including banning masks in schools, firing professors and urging parents to report critical race theory.

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World News

2 recent incidents have put a spotlight on Brazil's relationship with race

5:23pm January 25, 2022

by Philip Reeves

An American music producer was attacked as he waited to check in to a hotel in Rio de Janeiro. He is Black, the attackers are white. It is another example of Brazil's fraught relationship with race.

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Shane Lee Brown (left) spent six days in jail after police departments in Las Vegas and Henderson, Nev., confused him with Shane Neal Brown, an older white man and a felon.

National

A Black man jailed instead of a white male felon with a similar name is suing police

2:17pm January 25, 2022

by Deepa Shivaram

Nevada police thought Shane Lee Brown, who is Black, was Shane Neal Brown, who is white, taller and roughly twice as old. Now, Shane Lee Brown has filed suit, seeking $500,000 in damages.

Race
Courts

Explainer: Supreme Court takes up race in college admissions

10:29am January 25, 2022

by Associated Press

The Supreme Court has agreed to review a challenge to the consideration of race in college admission decisions, often known as affirmative action.

Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American, by Wajahat Ali

Books
Arts

Wajahat Ali's 'Go Back To Where You Came From' is biting and funny and full of heart

9:27am January 25, 2022

by Jenny Bhatt

Ali's memoir is intelligent and incisive in its arguments against "whiteness" but focuses, too, on hope and heart — calling for a more compassionate world through community and solidarity.

National

Civil rights trial begins for 3 ex-Minneapolis cops charged in George Floyd's death

4:41pm January 24, 2022

by Jon Collins

Opening arguments began in the trial of three former Minneapolis police officers who are being accused of violating George Floyd's civil rights when he was detained and killed by Derek Chauvin.

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This combination of photos provided by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office in Minnesota shows, from left, former Minneapolis police officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao.

National

The federal trial begins for 3 other officers at the scene of George Floyd's murder

3:09pm January 24, 2022

by Jon Collins

Former Minneapolis police officers Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng are charged with failing to provide medical care to George Floyd as Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck.

Books

'Afrominimalist' author on why it's best to live with less

6:27pm January 22, 2022

NPR's Michel Martin talks with Christine Platt, author of The Afrominimalist's Guide to Living With Less, about how to declutter and why it's especially important for communities of color.